Review: Just For Fun, We Look At Foreigner’s New ‘4 (Expanded Edition)’ – Classic Or Guilty Pleasure?

Foreigner, whose heyday was really the late 70s and early 80s, has gone back to revisit their 1981 blockbuster and have released 4 (Expanded Edition). The  new package features the artwork above in place of the more iconic “4” they took from the old movie lead in/countdown. The original cover was designed by Hipgnosis but was rejected in favor of the aforementioned “4.” The album was their fourth record and they’d trimmed their line up from six members to four – Ian MacDonald (guitar/keyboards) and Al Greenwood (keyboards) had both left, leaving only Mick Jones (guitar/keyboards/songwriting), Lou Gramm (vocals), Rick Wills (bass) and Dennis Elliott (drums). A lot of fours in that story, hence the creative title for the album.

When I mentioned this album and it’s new extended edition to the Rock Chick she was horrified. It’s easy to understand why. No band has destroyed their once sterling rock n roll reputation as badly as Foreigner. Well, maybe REO Speedwagon or Styx…but I digress. They started as a pretty solid rock band. Frankly, if I’m reaching for any Foreigner these days, it’s likely their debut album. I still dig that album although admittedly I love debut albums. I was surprised to learn their sophomore album Double Vision was their biggest selling album (clearly they avoided the sophomore slump). With 4 they decided to move to a more “AOR” sound… that can either be a compliment as in “album oriented rock” (think more FM vs AM) or a criticism as in “adult oriented rock,” which typically is code for mellow…or at least glossy and highly produced. In my mind, it’s more the latter, overly produced. When I put the original album on in the car the other day, I thought, this has to be a John “Mutt” Lange production and yes, he was the producer. One of the big singles was the treacly ballad, “Waiting For A Girl Like You.” Their next album’s first single was also a ballad, “I Want To Know What Love Is” which cemented their mellow reputation, the curse of death for a rock band. They battled with their lead singer who left, not once but twice. You don’t lose Lou Gramm on vocals and survive/thrive. This was never going to be a Van Hagar situation. Even now they’re out on the road without a single original member, not even mastermind Mick Jones. Um, no thanks.

But with all of that said, this album came out when I was in high school and there is a soft spot in my heart for it. It’s easy when you’re obsessed with rock n roll to become a “rock snob.” I think that was partially the reason for the Rock Chick’s abhorrent reaction when I mentioned the record. Most people who work in record stores are helpful and very knowledgeable but occasionally you meet the Rock Snob who disapproves of your purchase. I have gone through periods in my life when I was a bit of a Snob… certainly when I was in college. I was filling my record collection with all the albums from the bands I’d loved since I started listening to music in middle school, catching up, if you will – Zeppelin, the Faces, the Stones, Beatles, etc – and frowned on all the Hair Metal Bands my contemporaries were listening to. Although now, in retrospect, I have to admit there were a few good Hair Metal bands. Rock snobs may bag on me for even talking about this one, but hey, I was also an Eddie Money fan, so to some folks I’m going low brow again here. You can call this a guilty pleasure, but I thought I’d dig into this box… and besides what high school boy in 1981 didn’t hear “Waiting On A Girl Like You” while making out in a car… I get misty eyed just thinking about it.

The box set has four discs. I guess they wanted to keep the whole 4 theme going. The first disc is the original album, sans any bonus tracks. This was indeed a different, more polished sound than even Head Games, their previous album. The first track is “Night Life,” which I think I put on my Playlist, Songs About Night. It’s a good ol’ “Double Vision” kinda song. Next up was “Juke Box Hero,” and we all loved that song. I have to admit, I never met anybody who didn’t have this album back then. “Juke Box Hero” verges on metal but remains highly polished by Mutt… he’d recently worked with AC/DC on Back In Black so his hard rock bona fides were firmly in place. While I loved this thing back in the day, it’s at this point on the album where it turns cheesy. “Break It Up” is over the top and “Waiting For A Girl Like You” made me almost swerve off the road. “Waiting” totally overshadows what I considered the best ballad on this album, “Girl On The Moon” (which made our Playlist: Songs About The Moon), which ranks up there with “The Damage Is Done” from the debut. “Luanne” is a solid rocker…used to work with a woman named Luanne. “Urgent,” with it’s spectacular sax solo from Junior Walker is still a great tune. It was everywhere in 1981/82. “I’m Gonna Win” is an alright rocker. The last three tracks are amongst my favs, but that may just be because they weren’t overplayed. “Woman In Black” is a killer, the aforementioned “Girl On The Moon,” and “Don’t Let Go” which expresses the same sentiment as “Break It Up” but is significantly better. After all these years, this album still holds up pretty well… I don’t particularly consider it a classic, but there are worse Foreigner albums.

Disc 2 is outtakes and early versions. “Fool If You Love Him” is a solid rocker that could have been on any of their previous albums. It’s got a harder edge to it that I like. The same goes for “Love So Much Better” which is a slinky rocker. “Knockout Power” was another interesting rocker as is “Jealous Lover.” The rest of the 19, yes 19, tracks are all early versions or alternative  versions of album tracks that I can’t imagine ever returning to. If you dig the aforementioned outtakes, I’d recommend putting them on a playlist and streaming them. The rest of this is… well, uninteresting.

Disc 3, which I think was only included to round out the package so it’s 4 discs, is all instrumental, early takes on songs from the album. There are a whopping 15 songs on this album. I can’t imagine using this disc for anything more than a coaster for your cocktail. Either that or as a small Frisbee. There was nothing interesting on this disc. I can’t imagine wanting to dig into Foreigner’s “creative process” by wading through this tedious listen.

Now, the final disc is usually where I find gold in a box, it’s a bunch of live recordings from the 4 tour, compiled from, yes you guessed it, 4 different concerts. These guys must be heavy into the whole Numerology thing. This is an interesting live disc, but it’s no Foreigner Live At The Rainbow ’78. It’s certainly not a lackluster performance…it was the dawn of the 80s so maybe these guys were all hyped up on what Jason Bateman recently described as “the Scareface stuff.” It’s a testament to how many great rock songs these guys had at the time. “Dirty White Boy” is a stand out, even as rushed as it sounds. Who amongst us didn’t want to be a “Dirty White Boy”? At times listening to this cobbled together show I couldn’t help but think they’re playing like they had a cab waiting. I saw them on this tour – they headlined Summer Jam at Arrowhead Stadium – and I came away thinking Lou Gramm’s voice wasn’t that powerful…but they’d been on tour for almost a year at that time. He sounds great here. They play all their big songs from “Double Vision” to “Hot Blooded” to “Head Games.” It’s an enjoyable listen, perhaps the key to the box, but nothing essential.

While I didn’t come out of listening to this album with the feeling I could recommend it to anybody, it was a fun drive down memory lane. It’s weird to listen to an album we all loved in high school and thinking, it was really “of it’s time,” kind of like my college age mullet. Think what you want, but I rocked that look… After this record, I always felt at the time the wheels had come off for Foreigner. Lou Gramm left and did his first solo record with “Midnight Blue” on it before returning. Mick Jones became more controlling. They never veered back to their rock n roll beginnings. But once upon a time, these guys were amongst the biggest bands people from my high school were listening to.

Thanks for indulging me on this one. It’s not often I go so low brow, but I had to do it!! Cheers!